Needle.



"UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE.

JAMES ALEXANDER LIND, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRDTO WILLIS Q. SAMPSON AND ONE-THIRD TO FRED. E. HORTON, BOTH OF GRANSTON,

RHODE ISLAND.

NEEDLE.

Patented May 8, 1917.

Driginal application filed February 29, 1912, Serial No. 680,653.Divided and this application filed March 5, 1913. Serial No. 752,037.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Julius A. LIND, a citizen of the United States, andresident of the city of Providence, in the county of Providence andState of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Needles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an easy threading sewing machine needle, andhas for its object to provide such a needle of practical constructionwhereby it may be formed of one integral piece of wire by reducing aportion of the body of the wire, forming a transverse slot in the bodyportion a short distance inward from the reduced portion for the eye ofthe needle, also forming a longitudinal groove in the body portion whoselength, width and depth is substantially that of said reduced portion,the depth of said groove at the point between the eye and reducedportion being approximately that of, or a little greater than, thediameter of the corresponding part of the reduced portion. Said re ducedportion is then folded back upon the body portion into said groove,forming a flexible arm integral with the end of the body, the stock atthe fold or bend is then drawn out into a needle point and at the sametime the walls of the deepened groove below the eye are folded, bent orswaged over and around said correspondingly reduced portion at thatpoint thereby gripping, binding and supporting this slender arm firmlyin position below the eye of the needle.

Another feature of the invention is that by laying the resilient armunder a slight spring tension in a groove across the eye the thread ispermitted to be readily drawn into the eye of the needle, but positivelyprevented from being withdrawn through the same channel.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1shows a straight piece of wire from which the needle isconstructed.

Fig. 2-shows the first operation which reduces the end portion of thewire.

Fig. 3shows a transverse slot through the body near the reduced portionthereof.

Fig. alshows a longitudinal groove the depth of said groove at the pointbetween the eye and the reduced portion being substantially that or alittle greater than the diameter of the reduced portion at a corresponding point.

Fig. 5is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4 showing the longitudinal groovein which the flexible arm lie-s when depressed or locked in operativeposition.

Fig. 6is a central longitudinal sectional view showing the eye slot andthe longitudinal groove with its deepened portion between the eye andthe reduced portion, also showing the short flattened portion whichforms the thread retaining shoulder in the eye.

Fig. 7is an enlarged section on line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8-shows the reduced portion as having been bent back into thegroove of the body portion.

Fig. 9is an enlarged section on line 9-9 of Fig. 8 showing the reducedportion as lying in the'deepened part of the groove.

Fig. 10shows the reduced portion at the fold as having been drawn outinto a point.

Fig. 11is an enlarged section on line l111 of Fig. 10 showing the sidewalls of the deepened groove as having been bent or swaged over andaround the corresponding part of the reduced portion.

Fig. 12-is an enlarged section on line 12 12 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 13-illustrates our improved needle in finished condition.

Referring to the drawings, 20 designates.

a plain piece of wire from which the needleis formed, a portion of thebody of said wire being reduced at 21 (forming 1a tapering shoulder 22.The second operation is to mill or swage the transverse slot 23 a shortdistance inward from the shoulder 22 for the eye of the needle. Thewalls at each side of this slot are undercut and nicely rounded at 36and 37 and smoothed off to receive the thread and prevent cutting thesame as it is drawn therethrough. A longitudinal groove 24 is formed inthe body preferably by milling, the same being of a length, width andners 27 and 28 also facilitate the passing of depth sufficient toreceive the reduced portion 21 when bent back upon the body. Anessential feature of my present invention is that this groove below theeye at the point 25 is preferably formed a little deeper, usually bymilling or swaging, than the diameter of the corresponding part of thereduced portion. In other words, this portion of the groove should beformed of a depth sufficient to receive the corresponding part of thereduced portion so that the edges of its walls when closed over saidportion may be made to substantially meet to bind and hold the same inposition.

After forming the groove 24 and the slot 23 a broad faced cutter isused. for removing the sharp corners 27 and 28 on either co e of saidslot to prevent these corners from engaging the fabric as the needlepasses there through in sewing. The removal of the corthe thread intothe eye. of the needle.

The next operation is to bend this reduced portion substantially at ajust below the shoulder 22 and lay the same into the groove at 24 and 25back upon the body portion see Fig. 8 forming a thin flexible arm orreduced portion 21.

The stock at the fold or bend 29 is drawn out preferably by a swagingprocess, into a point tapering back substantially to the eye, at thesame time-this swaging process binds, draws, turns, or folds the walledges or lips 30 and 31 of the groove, at the point 25, over that partof the reduced portion which lies between them, securely binding andholding that portion between the eye and the point firmly to the bodyportion of the needle, materially supporting the flexible arm portionmaking the needle very strong adjacent the point rendering it impossiblefor the parts to separate there.

The balance of this flexible arm lies in the groove 24 where it isnicely protected throughout its length from lateral strains, and itsupper end 32 is turned slightly out-- ward to facilitate passing thethread in back of the arm in threading the needle. As will be seen inFigs. 8 and 10 the way to thread the needle is to pass the bight of thethread over the end 32 of this flexible arm and slide the same downuntil nearly to the eye where a slight pull on the thread overcomes thespring tension of the arm and the thread passes into the eye of theneedle. W hen the thread is straightened out it is in sewing, the endwalls 3637 on either side of the groove 24- serve in conjunction withthe spring arm to lock the thread into the eye and effectively preventits withdrawal through the entering channel.

Grooves 33 are formed lengthwise of the body portion on opposite sidesthereof in which the thread may lie while the needle is passing throughthe work and a suitable collar 34 may be provided, if desired, on thebody portion to be slid down over the free end of the flexible arm toretain the same firmly in the longitudinal groove, but the use of acollar for this purpose is not neces sary with a needle of my presentconstruction.

It is found in some cases that in order to facilitate the forming of theneedle a wire may be employed whose diameter is substantially thatrequired for the body portion of the needle so as to minimize thedrawing or reducing operation, in which case the shank of the needle isnaturally smaller than the standard size, and must be enlarged. Thisinvention, however, is not restricted to forming the enlarged shankportion 35 of a separate piece of metal wrapped around a shank ofsmaller size, as the stock may be of I this diameter originally anddrawn down successively to the different diameters required, if desired.

I have shown and described the needle as being formed with a groove intowhich the flexible arm is adapted to lie throughout its length, but I donot wish to be restricted to this particular construction as in somecases the groove may not be employed. I have also shown and described adeepened groove as at 25 below the eye into which the correspondingportion of the reduced flexible arm is laid when the same is bent backupon the body of the needle and have described the walls of the grooveat this point as being turned and swaged over this portion of the armfor retaining the same permanently in position, but I do not wish to berestricted to this particular means of fastening this arm as anysuitable means may be employed for fastening or securing the arm to thebody portion at this point near the bend below the eye without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention.

No claim is made in the present application to the method of forming theneedle as the same forms the subject-matter of my Patent No, 1,056,187,patented March 18, 1913.

I claim:

1. A needle comprising a pointed body portion provided with a threadreceiving eye adjacent its pointed portion, a resilient guide armintegral with the pointed portion of the body and extendinglongitudinally of said body and having a free end that facilitates theplacing of a thread between the arm and body, said body being providedwith means (for engaging the arm between the eye and the pointed portionof the body to hold the arm across the eye.

2. A needle comprising a body and a resilient arm extending therefrom,said needle being pointed atone end and provided with an eye near thepoint, a groove formed in the body between the eye and the point toreceive said arm, the walls of said groove overlying said arm wherebythe latter is permanently united to said body between said eye and saidpoint.

3. A needle comprising a body portion having an elongated longitudinalgroove therein, said body being provided with an eye near its pointedend and having a reduced part united therewith at the point and 10 lyingin said groove over said eye and the walls of said groove below the eyebeing closed over said reduced portion for binding the two partstogether above the point.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES ALEXANDER LI ND.

Witnesses:

HOWARD E. BARLow, E. I. OGDEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

